Blog

NZA Group A is on the move, Liz, one of our instructors fills us in:  We said goodbye to the quiet of the Crossing and moved straight into the busy city of Sydney. On the first full day of Sydney, the group split into two. Half went to Newtown and the other went to the beach and did a little sun bathing and swimming at the coast of Australia. Newtown was a quirky, artsy part of the city. There were outside markets where you could get food, clothing, and lots of little t… Read more

Lauren and Wes get their hands dirty at The Crossing, working hard on sustainability and landcare projects. Check out their video blog to see what they're up to!     If you want to learn more about the New Zealand and Australia Semester Program, you can read more here. Read more

One of our students, Christina, fills us in about Coral Conservation in Cozumel:  After an awesome week of working towards our PADI Open Water Scuba Diving Certification, we put our new diving skills to use in an effort to help the dying coral reefs of Cozumel. Our day would begin in the classroom with a passionate lecture from our instructor German, starting with what coral is. Coral is a collection of live animal polyps that form together to create the coral. These b… Read more

Liz gives us an update on what NZA Group A has been doing:  This was a fun and emotional week for us. We started off in the blue mountains canyoning, the guides equipped us with helmets and harnesses, and we learned how to abseil. They hooked a rope to our harnesses, and we used it to guide ourselves down the rock wall. We first practiced abseiling down a 3 meter rock, then 15 and then a 45. It was very nerve-racking for most of us in the group but we all did it with a … Read more

Let's catch up with one of our students Ava, who is living the dream in the Caribbean Sea:   For the past couple days we have been doing a lot of traveling from Mexico to Belize.  Yesterday we left on a sailboat for three days of island hopping and camping. The first day was beautiful and very sunny and we went snorkeling and attempted to spearfish. Although we had no luck spear fishing, we did catch a fish off the boat! The first island we went to was Rendezvous Caye… Read more

Avery gives us an insight into life underwater:  We started scuba today and I don’t think any of us could put into words how we were feeling. Nervous and excited I guess! For a majority of the group, this would be their first dive. Although it sounds easy, telling your body to breathe underwater can be difficult. For those with some dive experience, their priorities were more about perfecting skills like neutral buoyancy and air consumption. By the second dive it became… Read more

Trekking and Relaxing in PaiSaying our goodbyes at Elephant Nature Park was difficult but memorable.  We were given the opportunity to get up close and personal with the elephants one last time when we did presentations - where we focused on individual elephants and their history with trauma before coming to the park. From the park, we moved on to Pai, a small hippy town about an hour North of ENP. In Pai, we got the chance to get a feel for the town and walk around for … Read more

Surf Camp – Day 1 “You just gotta drop in, smack the lip WHAPAHH then tuck in there and just get GAHHH” – SURFER GUY.Since our last group blog post, much has happened!  No days off for that girl. We have been stationed at the Surfari retreat homestay, where we have been working with local contractors doing bush regeneration by weeding out a harmful invasive species of plant, Bitou Bush, and by replanting helpful and beautiful trees to flourish in coming years. It was inc… Read more

Here we are in dreamy Central America!I remember arrival day like it was 15 days ago. After leaving the freezing fudging winter of Chicago, Mexico’s warm, welcoming breeze lifted my spirit. We were all strangers. We had all definitely stalked each other’s social media’s, and I’m sure everyone found the wrong Devin on Instagram because the first question I got was, ”You’re a dude!?”We made it through orientation and bonded through the sweaty, salty, sandy, small shared be… Read more

Another surf update, this time from NZ A Group A! Liz one of the instructors gives us the low-down on what they've been up to lately: After a six hour drive from Byron Bay we arrived at Surfari—our accommodations in Crescent Head, New South Wales. After a week of living out of tents it was lovely to sleep on real beds. The relaxation didn’t last long, because the next morning we drove to Plomer Beach for our first day of service work. With a view of the waves crashing o… Read more